A late solo attack proved enough for Felix Gall to net Austria’s first gold of the 2015 Road World Championships in the Men’s Junior Road Race, narrowly but decisively fending off a powerful late surge by France’s Clement Betouigt-Suire.

In a tumultuous eight-lap race, the bunch was broken apart by several crashes on rainsoaked road surfaces as well as attacks. The key moment came when the main pack shattered into a group of five around two laps from the finish, forming a lead break that swelled to 14 around 25 kilometres from the line.

The 17-year-old Gall went clear around five kilometres to go, just before the last assault on the sweeping cobbled ascent of Libby Hill and opened a small advantage. However, his rivals whittled back that gap from 15 seconds to a nailbitingly narrow margin of three seconds as Gall headed up the final climb of Governor Street in the 129.8 kilometre race.

Betouigt-Suire slowly but steadily reduced that small margin yet further on the 680 metres finishing straight and tried his utmost to fling his front wheel in front of Gall at the line. But to no avail. The Austrian held on for gold, whilst Rasmus Pedersen of Denmark, just one second behind, had to settle for bronze. After a fraught battle for the podium, Reto Muller of Switzerland claimed fourth, 10 seconds back.

The final race of the 2015 Road World Championships, the Elite Mens Road Race over 261.4 kilometres takes place on Sunday, bringing down the curtain on what has proved to be a dramatic and enthralling week of bike racing in Richmond, Virginia.